Ashes and Kingdoms

Tips, tricks, tricks. Footsteps echo in the dim hallway.

The father who goes before, the boy who obeys, the two footsteps overlap, deviate, and overlap again.

The first visit to the Capitol of the Imperial Capital was painful and overwhelming.

The boy looks anxiously at his father's back. Will this man protect me here? Is that all the power? Such an overwhelming...... in the Hall of Power.

As he perceived anxiety, his father looked back and smiled. The face is still weak and unreliable.

Eventually, they arrive in one room.

I've been waiting for...

"Hey, are you finally wearing it? Nakte Dragon Hou"

"I wonder if the dragon was left in the mansion"

Ha ha, and the laughter that happened was a terribly vain one. It's not fun, just a laugh of contempt and obedience.

All the less than ten men were "Dragon Horse". Included are aristocrats regarded as Dragon Hou family equivalents in order to equalize members' origins across the empire.

His father smiled and responded to his uncertainty.

"This capitol is too small for her."

More laughter happens again. The boy who heard it behind his father blushed when he realized that the "dragon” was about his mother.

Is it rumored that the “dragon” is stronger than the Lord Himself?

- Impudent.

Ironically, I get more embarrassed by my father's attitude that I can't say back. Are you not aware that you are being laughed at, or are you indifferent to the honor of an Austra Gate with your son-in-law adopted?

"Instead, I'd like to introduce you all to the next Dragon Hou today."

I don't mind my son's dissatisfaction, his father takes the boy's arm and makes him stand forward. As soon as he faced decent, the boy shrugged.

- What the hell, these guys?

It was the first time in my life that I had been so casually exposed to an obvious gaze. Men accustomed to power and dressed like part of their own bodies stare at him with eyes that treat others as tools and “elements”. They're calculating whether they're worth it, whether they're buying it or not, and what to do with it. Without even trying to hide that.

Somewhat, one grinned downright.

"Apparently, it's not your daughter. I don't know if I need to check under my clothes."

He who flirts, he who flirts, he who thinks of something else in a flirtatious way. In any case, it was obvious that the Nakte Dragon Hou family had been lightly picked up.

The boy turns bright red and squeezes his hands into his fists.

His father placed his hand gently on the shoulder of the boy, who leaned down and stared at his nail tip. It was a hand that felt no will, no comfort, no anger together, no exhortation to indulge. And the words that came out of your open mouth.

"Senato-Austra-Yerg, this is my son. I will take care of you in various places in order to learn national politics in the future. Nice to meet you."

- Get down!!

Anger and shame burned the boy's brain. Why can't we even blame disrespect for a word?

This is the limit of this man. In the hall, he bowed his head to his wife, and in the Imperial Capital, he was a man of that degree, asking for convenience from other nobles. That and this, holding our Lord's head down all four or six times, because of that woman...

(Really? Don't just look at your nail tips, try to raise your face)

A noble voice whispered. Unexpectedly, the boy felt that someone had seen his angry swirling heart and he was ashamed of it. I realize what a tiny self looks like, bound by boring wounds put on my self-esteem.

But for once, foolish remorse is not clear.

The boy, who looked up at his father with resentment, was caught in unexpected thoughts.

The side of his father, who thought he was just weak, had the same smile in this situation. Give me a smile that is neither loving nor hard, but completely the same as usual.

- Are you okay?

Even in this situation, is he not moving? I don't protest one thing, not because I'm timid, but simply because I'm not dealing with him...?

(Look closely)

Encouraged, the boy once again looks at the dragon marquis.

An overwhelming strong man full of power and authority, that was what Dragon Hou was supposed to be. But what do you think, if you look closely with your awakened eyes, you're just a bunch of middle-aged men? The famous Dragon Horse, who pays no respect to others, blinds himself to rumors and prejudices, and plunges back into a status he just inherited from his ancestors.

- I can't believe these guys insulted me. What did I do?

(not so)

- That's right, no. It's because their eyes are rotten.

I have nothing to be ashamed of, neither my father nor my mother.

When he noticed, the boy was unconsciously stretching his spine. Observe the adults who are insulting themselves in cold blood.

- Watch it now. If I get the power...

(Let them know. who is not worthy of the honor of Dragon Hou)

I'll make you regret it. That you fooled me... I will surely make you regret that you insulted your father and your mother and discredited one of my gates.

(By showing myself that I am worthy of Dragon Hou Taru)

Watch. I'll tell you what it should be like with Dragon Hou!

... time flies... swallowing numerous disgraces, anger, and hatred... one by one, melting...

I met Iona in the Imperial Capital. This woman would say, "I'm sorry to snuggle like my mother," and I thought the woman was good to this extent.

(Safe and relaxed, isn't it?

... thankful we didn't have to stick together. Nothing was demanded, I just felt comfortable being accepted...

(I just couldn't represent it well)

Yes, I loved you as much as I did.

A child was born. It was my daughter - disappointed.

I accidentally knew why I didn't have a man. I hated my wife for not giving birth to traces.

(You must have been afraid, right? 'Cause she was a woman)

He was a neglected, nasty creature!

(Actually)

The truth is... I just didn't know what to do. I was anxious.

(I wish I could have loved you)

I couldn't love you. So...

He escaped. He decided not to look at it and immersed himself in the service of Dragon Marquis.

It's not like I didn't think about it, even though I didn't.

... Dead leaves dance... People grow old and die...

After the death of his predecessors, his wife traveled to her husband, and finally the man became Nakte Dragon Marquis with fame. His own wife succumbed to the disease early, and the child had one daughter.

Nothing threatens him anymore, nobody.

After the funeral, he was alone, wandering the inherited mansion like it is now. Every room, corner to corner, as if it were a labyrinth to visit for the first time.

He had already spent quite a few years in the hall, but that was the first time he had learned of the existence of that room.

Hidden, half-blooded room built to avoid people's eyes. Nobody said there was such a thing. Even rumors.

When I opened the door with caution, it seemed deserted, to begin with. Dim, inexperienced scum and books piled up, storage room. cluttered, but oddly fascinating... was the sight of something worthwhile going to sleep.

"May I help you, my lord?"

And when he was called to his voice, he rejoiced at the same time every day. I found something, my father and mother, and my wife, and the men of the mansion, they all tried to hide it from him - so intuitive.

A figure in black appeared quietly between the shelves. My back is bent and I have an unbalanced face peeking under my headscarf.

"I didn't hear there were people here."

"The only person you knew was Master Efferna."

"... so what are you doing here?"

Until he answered the Lord's question, a while was free.

And.

"It's an exploration of lost power"

- To the answer, the joy boiled down.

You mean you've finally come across something to meet! Something my mother gave me, something I had to leave behind in the end, something my father never had in his lifetime!

(You thought that would make it up to you)

Yes, I rejoiced that the power would atone for the spicy acidity and humiliation that had made me lick it in my previous life.

(Actually, I wasn't looking for it)

Still comforting... that's what I thought.

No love, no happiness. Even honor has been defiled by the dragon marquises for all their foolish fame. At least only the power was determined to get it, even for the vow of a distant day to make Dragon Hou look like he deserved it...

Anger burns and swirls. Anger, shame, disappointment.

On the back of the hand of the man holding the reins, a blood vessel emerges.

"Dismissed... the child...!!

Imperial Metropolitan Guard soldiers who broke into the Capitol without any notice. Suddenly he was stuck with a unilateral notice of dissolution and driven up with spears and swords. Like a herd of livestock.

I didn't think it was sane. But I had to understand when I saw that one of them, who tried to ascertain the Emperor's will, was stabbed from his back without warning.

The Emperor of Aoyagi said he was going to eliminate us Dragon Hou from national politics.

The prestigious Dragon Marquis takes a small offering and returns west on Nakte Avenue. I didn't expect this day to come in my own name.

He looked back the way he came. I can't see the Imperial Capital anymore. At the end of the journey is Quanos, a land of glory whose ancestors once banished the beast of darkness, and gave Diatius to the hand of man.

- That descendant is deprived of power by Aoyagi! Emperor, I will make you regret what you have done to Non! I'll drag that young man down from his throne...

(I can't leave it to you. For emperors who do not understand the honor and weight of the Dragon Hou family and think only of their own preservation)

Yeah, he shouldn't be on the throne. If he keeps waving the emperor's wand, we can't do it alone. It has to be obsolete, you know...

(such as solemnly cleansing one Dragon Hou family before being hit)

Fear of their own shadows, and the men who must begin to kill the nearest ones from one end, etc.

Then let's make his anxiety a reality. Make my brother reign, and if he does, he will be our puppet...

(I have ears to ask. You will be emperor)

- No, you can't leave us alone. In order to do so, we must first strengthen our ties to our gates. Luckily that brother doesn't have any children... to adopt his grandson Senato...

A man goes down the street, working out a calculation to return to the Imperial Capital.

Pass Quanos, further west......

By the time the hindsight was smaller, there was a small crack in the earth.

Bocoli. Soil suddenly, depressed. As if the mole went through below. But the fallen dirt doesn't get anywhere. Everywhere to the dark, deep bottom of darkness, it keeps falling apart...

A man goes back to the hall.

One rush, and he headed, was in the magician's room.

- Give me the power.

I want to get the power to use it now and get it useful. I'm going to fight back and kick that blue genius off...

(If we don't prepare for pursuit, we have to protect everyone in the house as the owner)

- Yes, I don't even think that emperor can safely pull his hand with this. Non is the master, we must protect the family and the people.

The man walks down the dim hallway to his big crotch. an unpopular corner, a half-blooded room...... put your hands on that door,

Don't open it!

Lena's warning sounded and Finn suddenly regained consciousness of himself.

But already late, in the memory he was in tune, Marquis Senato steps into the magician's room. What I was waiting for there was something uninhabitable, a sign of sobering coma.

Once entangled with the Senato Marquis, "hunger" resembled itself to a man by entangling some consciousness, and became the sorcerer Orgin.

It's supposed to be a memory of the past, but that “hunger," I found Finn. Immediately after,

Eat Wassero!!

It struck down the figure of man and manifested its true nature, swelling up to several times in an instant, or as the torrent struck me.

Even though I couldn't see clothes, martial artefacts, etc. in the darkness, the shadow was waving its sword at the moment when there was a crisp, metal scrubbing sound.

Shit!

Finn accidentally tried to pull out Ferrendaine. Faster than I can recall that I am now only conscious, with no flesh, no possessions attached to it.

Flash runs.

Finn was just conscious, shaking off something he had in his hand.

As if there was an entity, I feel the paralyzed sensation of the hands I met.

That's... that sword.

Finn was more conscious of his opponent's sword than what appeared in his own hands. It was that sword that Efferna once tried to let my son touch, that Marquis Senato tried to give Finn in the Wave.

Shadows strike again. The fruit of what used to be a spirit cut the wind with a sob. Finn shrugs on the brink, waving his arms down with all his strength with pity for the Spirit and hatred for the sorcerer.

Shadows that raise their swords and defend them. But when the lightning struck, a flash of light tore the blade into pieces.

The shadow collapses into a black mist, and yet, it comes to perseverance. Rising in a tsunami, he cuts open a huge jaw lined with countless fangs and strikes at once.

But even that cut didn't reach Finn.

All of a sudden, four dragons descended upon him. Or shine, or whirlpool, wave violently. It grabs onto a black shadow that hasn't even fastened some form already, rips it apart, finely slices it, tramples it and chews it up.

As Finn was stunned, signs of Elesia whispered beside him.

It's a spectacular view.

…………

Words didn't come out and Finn just nodded small. Even in the meantime, the comatose shadow collapses and sees in the wake of the dragon's onslaught.

A dragon with a green light - Orgenadius - caught up with the darkness that finally tried to escape, wrapped it up, tightened it up, and crushed it. Finn is a little confused that way, as if there were terrible human emotions involved.

'Cause I met something I miss.

To the silent question, Utier answered.

"I remember those signs. When humans were once fighting against the Dark Families, there were, rather, foolish sorcerers who took darkness for their own and tried not to use it. In the end, they were all sealed in the earth. We were tormented by that sorcerer.

The pale voice kept only calm, but emotions are revealed to such an extent that now that consciousness alone reminds me that she and I are still human. Finn was speechless and offered a brief silent prayer for his former sacrifice.

At the same time, Senato's memory began to move again. Unlike before, much more promptly, without delay.

Apparently, I don't have to intervene anymore.

Blue fog voices seeped relief.

Memories flow away before them one after another...

The man was no longer hungry for power. I was not imprisoned by resentment and hatred, nor was I abetted by those voices, but I worked on the service of Dragon Marquis with my indomitable will.

Even though he wanted to abolish the Genus Emperor and rebuild the Empire with the Fedoras Emperor, he was thwarted by Varis… but even then, he did not give up. While I truly guided my grandson's safety, I kept thinking about how I could regain the authority of Dragon Hou and get involved in national politics. Neither despair nor hatred eroded his heart.

Surprised, angry, but also sympathetic to the Eresian rebellion as the Dragon Hou family at the expense of Genus. I admire you, but make a false agreement to protect the royal capital.

I found my grandson Senato, and a new dragon march emerged from the north, and I thought I saw hope in the future.

And...

In Quanos, he fought “hunger” to the end.

For some reason, he was desperate to move his men, residents sitting in vain faces, somehow losing their temper.

The darkness of the erupting famine strikes the city, until that moment...